cooper_sweetie8

Hi everyone!

I'm officially heading over on the 14th March on a two year working holiday visa. Silly question, but would anyone with a similar experience be able to help? Just wondering if you purchased any form of insurance before you left? Not sure if holiday insurance counts...

Thanks, any advice would be great .

Sarah

BEVS

Hi and welcome.

Maybe have a read of this thread <- click the link.

cooper_sweetie8

Thanks

gazmac

Hello teuchter,

I purchased travel insurance when I did my first WHV to Aussie/Asia, cost a couple of hundred quid - never used it, didnt buy any the next time we went travelling and didnt need any.

The positive is that you (and your parents) will have piece of mind and that might be worth a few hundred quid.

Depends what you want it for

You will receive acute healthcare here in NZ ie if you break a leg or are in a car crash, but regular Doctor appointments and dentist can be expensive but again how often did you go to the doctor or dentist last year? weight it up.

If your worried about your stuff, just dont bring anything expensive, Leave the iphone and mac at home, buy a cheapo digi camera and talk to real people instead of your facebook friends - most interesting people ive ever met I met because we eat together firstly as strangers in some back of beyond campsite in the dark.


Whats your attitude to risk? basically thats all insurance is, the gamble against something happening or not happening.

I envy you in many respects, Id love the opportunity to do it all again, backpacking Aussie at 23 and living in a tent for 7 months was the best time of my life and without those experiences I wouldnt live at 33 in beautiful Nelson.

You will have a blast

cooper_sweetie8

Thanks for you're reply, it's been a long time coming, I'm a social worker by trade so wanted to make sure I had two years front line experience before leaving. Very excited that it's happening and edging closer by the day!

Was nice to hear you have had such a great experience, I have heard that most people are friendly and welcoming, especially if you've got an open attitude. Different shift in attitude to some of my fellow teuchters haha.

Would prefer to have it as a back-up, I have on-going problems with my ear and although its settled now you never know. Will also have to take some things of worth as will need them for any potential job etc. Would you have any tips as to what insurance company you used before?

Cheers again for your response is so nice to hear people's experiences and you're right, imagine if you had taken that risk!

Sarah

gazmac

Hi Sarah,

First off let me clarify that I am not a Teuchter, Anyone north of Fife is a Teuchter, Anyone west of Fife is a Weegie, and anyone South of Fife is.. well you get the drift....

Unfortunately I have no idea who i went with as it was a long time ago now, I would suggest using someone reputable even if it cost a little more.

I have found NZ to be really great, I arrived here on a WHV with my partner (also from Fife) and now have residency and an Kiwi son. I am a Psych Nurse by trade so found work easy to find when I started looking. I work with Social Workers but have no idea what the job situation is like, I guess this is something you will find out in due course should you need to.

Dont limit yourself to your trade though, WHV/Travelling are the times in your life where you can do anything you want, I worked all over Aussie and in NZ I found a job in a Kiwifruit packhouse in a place calle "Te Puke" - dont laugh. You meet a whole bunch of other travellers when doing traveller jobs, some of whom you may keep in touch with for many years to come. Id recommend it, The life experience is unmached and it can be very charachter building as well.

I was 29 when I arrived here, my first WHV in Aussie was when I was 23 and the differencies between the two were vast, a lot appeared to be due to changes in technology but both times were great and the Aussie trip changes my life forever.

You have no idea where this might lead, you might hate it here and end up working in Dundee, however you might love it here and end up working with village communities in Bolivia as a volunteer, that the best thing - you just never know.

All the best.